Board game

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a chess-like board game with four players. The method includes the providing of a game board having a primary grid of one-hundred forty-four playing spaces arranged as a square surrounded by four secondary grids each having sixteen playing spaces and providing a set of sixteen chess pieces to each of the four players. Afterward, the players alternatingly move one of the chess pieces from each of the sets of chess pieces according to the rules of chess. Next, the players attempt to reach a checkmate position against the Kings of their opponents. Any player having a checkmated King is eliminated from the game and the checkmated King is removed from the game board. The chess pieces on the game board forming part of the set with the checkmated King are combined with the set of chess pieces that established a checkmate position against the checkmated King. The players continue in the above manner until only one King remains free of checkmate, thereby establishing the winner of the game.

CONTINUING APPLICATION DATA

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/509,779, filed on Aug. 25, 2006, now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to amusement devices and, more particularly, to chess or checker type board games wherein chess pieces move over boards having a nonrectangular patterns.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The game of chess was developed hundreds of years ago. The game is played by two opponents, each of which move their own set of sixteen chess pieces, symbolic of a medieval army, over a game board. The game board holds an array of sixty-four squares that alternate in color between white and black. The object of the game is to capture the opponent's King, the symbolic of the leader of the opposing army.

In a time of war, it is not unusual for the armies of many opponents to occupy portions of a battlefield. To succeed, an army must execute a strategy in which alliances are formed with erstwhile enemies. Later, when a significant advantage is achieved, an alliance can be terminated in a surprising way with one ally capturing another. The conquering army, of course, takes the spoils of war. Many chess players have wished to simulate the same experience without risk to life and limb.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the problems associated with the traditional game of chess that is played by two opponents, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a board game for four players that expands upon chess and offers greater complexities and strategic possibilities.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved features and arrangements thereof in a board game for the purposes described that is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.

Briefly, the method of playing the chess-like board game in accordance with this invention involves providing a special game board having two hundred eight playing spaces and four sets of chess pieces to four players. Then, the players alternatingly move one of the chess pieces from each of the sets of chess pieces according to the rules of chess. Next, the players attempt to reach a checkmate position against each of the Kings of each of the sets of chess pieces with the player having a checkmated King being eliminated from the game. Afterward, a checkmated King is removed from the game board. Also, the chess pieces on the game board of each of the sets of chess pieces having a checkmated King are combined with the set of chess pieces that reached a checkmate position against the checkmated King. The players continue in the above manner until a King of only one of the sets of chess pieces remains free of checkmate, thereby establishing the winner of the board game.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

My board game can be more readily described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a game board in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the relative positions of the two drawing sheets carrying FIGS. 2A and 2B.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged top view of a left half of the game board with chess pieces positioned thereon as at the outset of game play.

FIG. 2B is an enlarged top view of a right half of the game board with chess pieces positioned thereon as at the outset of game play.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Board game G is played on a board B having a field of play P with two hundred eight playing spaces L. Field of play F has a primary grid C at its center that is flanked on each of its sides by one of four auxiliary grids designated N, S, E, and W. Grid C has one hundred forty four playing spaces L and each of auxiliary grids, N, S, E, and W, has sixteen playing spaces L.

Grid C has twelve rows r₁ of twelve playing spaces L. The rows r₁ are vertically stacked so as to form twelve adjacent columns c₁ each containing twelve playing spaces L. The playing spaces L in each of rows r₁ and columns c₁ of grid C are alternately marked with light and dark colors so as to form a checkerboard.

Auxiliary grids N and S have two rows r₂ of eight playing spaces L that are centered at the top and bottom of grid C. Rows r₂ are vertically stacked to form eight adjacent columns c₂ containing two playing spaces L each. Playing spaces L in rows r₂ and columns c₂ are alternately marked with light and dark colors that form a checkerboard pattern that continues the one presented by grid C.

Auxiliary grids E and W have eight rows r₃ of two playing spaces L that are centered against the opposite sides of grid C. Rows r₃ are stacked vertically to form two adjacent columns c₃ containing eight playing spaces L. Playing spaces L in rows r₃ and columns c₃ are alternately marked with light and dark colors forming a checkerboard pattern that continues that found in grid C.

Each player is provided at the start of the game with a set of sixteen chess pieces symbolic of a medieval army: one King K, one Queen Q, two Rocs (a.k.a. Rooks) R, two Cniht Boys (a.k.a. Knights) G, two Arch Bishops (a.k.a. Bishops) B, and eight Peons (a.k.a. Peons) P. Each set of chess pieces is distinguishable from the others, with one set Z₁ being black in color, another set Z₂ being green, still another set Z₃ being white, and the last set Z₄ being orange. (Of course, any color scheme is possible.) The goal of each player is to attack his opponents' Kings K so that they have no escape. The captured King K is removed from playing field F but the chess pieces associated with the captured King K that remain on playing field F at the time of capture become those of the capturing player and can be used by the capturing player to pursue the Kings K of the remaining opponent(s). Players take turns moving one chess piece at a time to strengthen their own position and to weaken those of their opponents. The game ends when a single player has captured the King K of his remaining opponent.

At the outset of game play, the sets chess pieces Z₁, Z₂, Z₃, and Z₄ of each player are positioned in a respective one of auxiliary grids N, S, E, and W. Peons P are positioned in the eight playing spaces L that abut primary grid C. In the remaining eight spaces L, each of the players having dark colored (black and green) sets of chess pieces positions his Queen Q upon the dark colored space L closest to the center of the open row or column and players having light colored (white and orange) sets of chess pieces positions his Queen Q upon the light colored space L closest to the center of the open row or column. Each King K is positioned upon the open space L closest to the center of a row or column and adjacent to his Queen Q. The King K and Queen Q are each flanked by Arch Bishops B. In turn, Arch Bishops B are flanked by Cniht Boys G. Finally, Cniht Boys G are flanked by Rocs R that occupy the outermost space in each of exterior row or column.

A Peon P moves forward, never sideways or backwards. A Peon P normally moves one space at a time, except on its first move when it can move one or two spaces. After its first move, a Peon P can advance only one space at a time.

A Peon P moves and captures in different ways. A Peon P captures on a forward diagonal. It can only capture if the diagonal space is occupied by an opponent's chess piece. If the diagonal space is empty or is occupied by a piece of the Peon's own color, the Peon P cannot move to that space. In all captures, whether by a Peon P or by another chess piece, the captured piece is removed from playing field F. Only opponents' chess pieces can be captured.

A Cniht Boy G moves one space L in any direction then diagonally one space L away from its starting space. This is the same as saying that a Cniht Boy G moves two spaces L straight then one space L to the side. If a target space L is occupied by an opponent's chess piece, the Cniht Boy G can capture it. If the target space L occupied by a piece of the Cniht Boy's color, the Cniht Boy G is blocked and cannot move to that space L. A Cniht Boy G can hop over any chess piece on its path and is only chess piece that can jump over other pieces.

A Roc R moves any number of spaces along its row or column. A Roc R cannot jump over other pieces. Nevertheless, if a target space L along a row or column is occupied by an opponent's chess piece, the Roc R can capture it.

An Arch Bishop B moves any number of spaces along its diagonals. An Arch Bishop B is confined to spaces of a single color for the entire chess game and, thus, can reach only half of the playing spaces L on game board B. An Arch Bishop B cannot jump over other pieces. If a target space L along a diagonal, however, is occupied by an opponent's chess piece, the Arch Bishop B can capture it.

A Queen Q can move any number of spaces along its row, its column, or its diagonals to capture an opponent's chess piece or position itself for strategic purposes. A Queen Q combines the moves of a Roc R and a Arch Bishop B. This makes a Queen Q the most powerful piece on playing field F. A Queen Q cannot, however, jump over other chess pieces.

A King K is permitted the most basic movement. A King K can move one space in any direction. Just like the other chess pieces, a King K can capture the opponents' chess pieces but is blocked by chess pieces of its own color.

During a normal game, a player repeatedly attacks his opponents' chess pieces. An opponent may fend off these attacks by: moving the attacked chess pieces, by capturing the attacking chess pieces, or by blocking the attacking chess pieces. Sometimes a player will ignore an attack on a particular chess piece when, for example, there is a counterattack that presents a target of greater value.

An attack on a King K cannot be ignored. A player cannot leave his King K in a position where an opponent can capture the King K on the opponent's next move. If a player has no way of escaping an attack and protecting his King K, he loses and is out of the game.

The technical term for an attack on a King K is “check.” One consequence of being in check is that an afflicted player must immediately make a move to remedy the situation. Any other move by the player whose King K is in check must be taken back.

If a King K cannot move with all of the surrounding spaces being attacked by the opponent's or opponents' pieces, then the King K is in “checkmate.” The checkmated King K is captured and taken from board B. All of the other chess pieces of the same color as the checkmated King K still remaining on the playing field F at checkmate become the property of attacking player and are used in their normal chess capacity by the attacking player to capture the chess pieces of any remaining opponents. Thus, the game proceeds until one player has captured the King K of his remaining opponent.

When an attacker checkmates an opponent with, say, a King K, a Queen Q, and a Roc R remaining on the playing field F, the Queen Q, and a Roc R are added at their current locations to all others currently being marshaled by the attacker. If the attacker possessed, among other chess pieces, a Queen Q and a pair of Rocs R, he concluded the attack with at least a King K, two Queens Q, and three Rocs R—a formidable army.

The large playing field F, having two hundred eight spaces L, prevents the formidable advantage of gaining extra game pieces from quickly becoming a rout of the remaining players since there remains plenty of room to maneuver. In fact, the remaining players may choose to team-up against their powerful adversary to checkmate him.

When a player commands two sets of chess pieces originally controlled by two players, an opponent need only checkmate one king to gain the use of the two sets of chess pieces. Thus, having extra chess pieces affords greater power to a player, but, nonetheless, requires that extra vigilance be taken to ensure against the loss of power.

While my board game has been described with a high degree of particularity, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications can be made to it. For example, play can be readily accomplished by four players working as two separate teams of two players each against one another. Such a game would end when both kings of one team were captured. Similarly, three players could play my game provided that one set of chess pieces was set aside at the outset of game play. Therefore, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited merely to the board game described above, but encompasses any and all board game embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A method of playing a chess-like board game providing for the simultaneous play of four players, the method comprising the steps of: providing a game board having: a primary grid of one-hundred forty-four playing spaces arranged as a square in twelve rows of twelve of the playing spaces and twelve columns of twelve of the playing spaces, the primary grid having a top, a bottom, and opposed sides; and, a plurality of secondary grids each of which having sixteen playing spaces, one of the secondary grids being longitudinally centered upon, and contiguous with, the top of the primary grid and being arranged as a rectangle in two rows of eight of the playing spaces and eight columns of two of the playing spaces; another one of the secondary grids being longitudinally centered upon, and contiguous with, the bottom of the primary grid and being arranged as a rectangle in two rows of eight of the playing spaces and eight columns of two of the playing spaces; and, still another pair of the secondary grids being respectively centered upon, and contiguous with, one of the sides of the primary grid and being arranged as a rectangle in eight rows of two of the playing spaces and two columns of eight of the playing spaces; providing a respective one of four sets of chess pieces to each of the players with each of said sets of chess pieces being distinguishable from the other of said sets of chess pieces; alternatingly moving one of said chess pieces from each of said sets of chess pieces over said primary and secondary grids, with none of said playing spaces being excluded from game play as a neutral zone, according to the rules of chess; attempting to reach a checkmate position against each of the Kings of each of said sets of chess pieces with the player having a checkmated King being eliminated from said game; removing a checkmated King from said game board; combining said chess pieces on said game board of each of said sets of chess pieces having a checkmated King with said set of chess pieces that reached a checkmate position against said checkmated King; and, continuing in the above manner until a King of only one of said sets of chess pieces remains free of checkmate, thereby establishing the winner of said board game. 